Snow Flake

I was coming home from a snack run to the store at the beginning of winter. I wasn't sure why at first but I had suddenly gotten a craving for a specific type of candy (I think it was Skittles) and just had to go to the store and get some. As I got home and the snow started falling harder I heard the sound of a cat meowing. It sounded sad and I began looking around. I missed it at first as the cat's white fur blended in with the snow. As it came towards me I could spotted the movements and I knelt down to wait patiently for it to decide if I was worth coming to. It hardly needed any coaxing though as it climbed right into my arms seeking warmth.

"Okay, let's get you inside," I said carrying it into the stairwell and shutting the door.

Instantly the cat was at the door looking like it wasn't sure if it had made the right decision as it was now in an unfamiliar place and couldn't escape back outside. I didn't press for it to come upstairs quite yet. Adding Tiger to the mix before getting the new cat comfortable was a recipe for disaster. Instead I brought out some food and water to the first landing to coax it up partway and placed one of the litter boxes at the top of the staircase for when it needed it. Leaving the door open I went into the kitchen and sat down to wait for it to be ready to come in.

By the time my husband got home the white cat was on my lap purring. He spotted our new houseguest and gave me a confused look.

"I found it outside in the snow," I explained.

He nodded and helped me check the gender. We were pretty sure it was a girl. Daniel immediately started calling her Snow Flake and she seemed to like the name cause she came to it when we called for her.

I posted on Facebook to see if anyone had lost her. She was far too friendly to just be a wild cat. Someone had socialized her. No one ever claimed her though so she stayed with us.

As weeks passed I noticed she wasn't as interested in cat food as she was in human food. The few times I saw her try to eat the hard cat food she growled as if she were in pain. I figured maybe she had a bad tooth or something so I tried giving her tuna. To my surprise she growled in pain with that too. I felt bad because I had no money for an emergency vet appointment and all I could do was water her food down as much as possible.

One morning about three months after I had found her I walked into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for my children. The bananas I had planned on slicing into the boy's cereal were clawed up and destroyed. I had to suppress the agitation I felt that Snow Flake had now taken food out of my children's mouths. Lately she had gotten more desperate for softer foods and I guess ripe bananas were pretty soft once she gets through the peels. I sighed and Googled the effects of bananas on cats. Upon seeing that it's actually good for them I removed the ruined fruit from it's peels and mashed it up in a bowl for her. At least she would have a good distraction for today from me feeding Maya. Snow Flake had recently begun trying to stick her head in the bowl of baby food I was feeding to my daughter.

After that incident Daniel and I agreed that she was not compatible with our family and we needed to help her find a better home. Usually I would look for a home for her among my trusted friends on Facebook but we knew she needed a medical check up. I called the local pet shelter and agreed to pay the $20 give up fee.

I cried as I brought her in. They had me wait while they had their vet check her out. The lady came back out with a sad look and sat down at her desk. She then explained a few things. For one Snow Flake was a neutered male, an easy mistake to make. The problem was that his gums and teeth had a very serious disease and it had progressed quite a lot. They estimated that he had already had the disease and was beyond comfortable treatment options by the time I found him in the snow. There was nothing we could have done aside from what we already did.

Unfortunately they couldn't accept a cat in his condition because he was not adoptable with his progressed disease. They could return him to me and I could take him to a vet to try and treat him. Sadly the most likely outcome of that would be to remove all his teeth and feed him extremely soft foods for the rest of his life. The other option was to have him euthanized here.

I took some time to think it over and discuss it with my husband. We didn't want him to suffer any longer and he had a good few months with our loving family. He'd been happy but he was going to be in pain if he couldn't eat to sate his hunger without hurting his mouth. The best thing for him would be fore us to hold him and comfort him so he would feel loved when he fell asleep for the last time and that's what we did.

I don't know how his journey started or what happened to him on his way to us but I know the final moments of his life were filled with love and a family who promised him a place in Heaven with all the other cats we've been the forever family to before.